San Jose’s city council has approved a land purchase that will pave the way for a new police academy, replacing the smaller facility that’s currently in use, but the plan is facing pushback.
The very same week that San Jose announced its new police chief, it’s also taken a major step toward getting a new police training academy.
But as San Jose Spotlight first reported, local advocates aren’t happy about the $18 million project.
"What this signals to me is that city leadership is not listening to its constituencies," said Raj Jayadev with a local police watchdog group.
He told KCBS Radio that the decision cuts against the demands that have emerged since last summer’s protests to divert police funding toward social services.
“Who they’re really turning their backs on is the people of San Jose, who were making themselves as loud and as clear as possible,” Jayadev said.
The police union's vice president, Sean Pritchard, said that the new, larger facility is needed to give officers more space to run scenario training for de-escalation tactics.
"This allows us more opportunities to improve, to look at how we can get better every single day, with every single contact," he said.
Related
